In the fourth month summer shines; <br />In the sixth the heat declines. <br />Nature thus grants men relief; <br />Tyranny gives only grief. <br />Were not my forefathers men? <br />Can my suffering 'scape their ken? <br /> <br />In the cold of autumn days <br />Each plant shrivels and decays. <br />Nature then is hard and stern; <br />Living things sad lessons learn. <br />Friends dispersed, all order gone, <br />Place of refuge have I none. <br /> <br />Winter days are wild and fierce; <br />Rapid gusts each crevice pierce. <br />Such is my unhappy lot, <br />Unbefriended and forgot! <br />Others all can happy be; <br />I from misery ne'er am free. <br /> <br />On the mountains are fine trees; <br />Chestnuts, plum-trees, there one sees. <br />All the year their forms they show; <br />Stately more and more they grow. <br />Noble turned to ravening thief! <br />What the cause? This stirs my grief. <br /> <br />Waters from that spring appear <br />Sometimes foul, and sometimes clear, <br />Changing oft as falls the rain, <br />Or the sky grows bright again. <br />New misfortunes every day <br />Still befall me, misery's prey. <br /> <br />Aid from mighty streams obtained, <br />Southern States are shaped and drained. <br />Thus the Keang and Han are thanked, <br />And as benefactors ranked. <br />Weary toil my vigor drains; <br />All unnoticed it remains! <br /> <br />Hawks and eagles mount the sky; <br />Sturgeons in deep waters lie. <br />Out of reach, they safely get, <br />Arrow fear not, nor the net. <br />Hiding-place for me there's none; <br />Here I stay, and make my moan. <br /> <br />Ferns upon the hills abound; <br />_Ke_ and _e_ in marshy ground. <br />Each can boast its proper place, <br />Where it grows for use or grace. <br />I can only sing the woe, <br />Which, ill-starred, I undergo.<br /><br />Confucius<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/an-officer-deplores-the-misery-of-the-time/
